


Today vs. Yesterday

by lenasmagic (dimensionhoppingrose)



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: F/F, Fluffish, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Verbal Abuse Toward a Child, Origins, Other, Past Fic, Small hints of a Weblena crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:36:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23973883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dimensionhoppingrose/pseuds/lenasmagic
Summary: “Are you having fun?”She jumped, looking around. “Who—?”“Over here, dearie.”She turned to her own shadow cast against a large rock. Except it wasn’thershadow. It wass skinnier, taller, with glowing red eyes and a smirk. “Who are you?”“Why, I’m your Aunt Magica, of course.” The shadow almost sounded insulted, as if she should somehow remember. “We’re family.”
Relationships: Lena & Magica de Spell, Lena (Disney: DuckTales) & Webby Vanderquack, Lena (Disney: DuckTales)/Webby Vanderquack
Comments: 10
Kudos: 117





	Today vs. Yesterday

**Author's Note:**

> With all the origins talk in Astro BOYD, I was inspired to finally finish this. God I hope we learn more about Lena in season 3.

_She looked around, wide-eyed, at her drab surroundings. Where was she? Who was she? There was an amulet hanging around her neck. Somehow she knew… she just knew… she reached a hand out, and a couple of nearby rocks started glowing pink, raising into the air…_

* * * * *

“Yo,” Lena called as she let herself into the mansion. The door was always unlocked during the day. Even if it wasn’t, she had other ways of getting in.

“How did you get over the gate?” Beakley asked, bewildered, as she looked around the wall where the gate panel was. Lena shrugged.

“Passcode didn’t work, so I climbed.”

“I know, I meant to tell Webby to tell you — you _climbed_ over the gate?”

“You let your granddaughter run around with Scrooge McDuck. Climbing a gate is definitely _not_ the most dangerous thing you’ve ever heard of.”

“You could have just waited.” The panel had buzzed when the wrong passcode had been put in, alerting her that someone was trying to get in. But there had been no answer. Now she knew why.

“Climbing is easier.” Lena shrugged, hiking her bag a little higher onto her shoulder. “Webby upstairs?”

“As of the last time I saw her, yes.”

* * * * *

_“Are you having fun?”_

_She jumped, looking around. “Who—?”_

_“Over here, dearie.”_

_She turned to her own shadow cast against a large rock. Except it wasn’t_ her _shadow. It wass skinnier, taller, with glowing red eyes and a smirk. “Who are you?”_

_“Why, I’m your Aunt Magica, of course.” The shadow almost sounded insulted, as if she should somehow remember. “We’re family.”_

_Family? She frowned. “Who am I?”_

_“Oh, that doesn’t matter.” The shadow waved a hand. “What’s important is that I need your help.”_

_“My help?”_

_“Do you have to ask so many questions?” Magica —_ Aunt _Magica — sighed. “Yes. Families help each other. I need your help now.”_

_The girl nodded slowly. “Right… okay. What do I need to do?”_

* * * * *

“How many books are _in there_?” Webby asked, wide-eyed, as Lena dropped the bag on the floor, rolling her shoulders.

“Like, ten. I don’t know how Violet carries that thing around.” Her dear, adopted sister was off at some brainiac event for the weekend with Papá Sabrewing, leaving Lena behind with the father who cooked eight meals a day because he was convinced Lena never ate. Webby crawled to the bag, opening it; she beamed when she saw the books Violet had bequeathed to Lena, who was acting as the delivery girl.

“Oooooooh.” Webby was already flipping through one of the books, fascinated. “Lena, look at this!”

“Pass.” Lena sighed, flopping to lie on one of the beanbag chairs. “I’ll leave the magic stuff to you and Violet.”

“But _you’re_ the magic person.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m going to help you guys summon demons.”

“We don’t want to summon _demons_ …”

Lena locked her fingers behind her head and closed her eyes. “I use magic when necessary. Nothing frivolous.”

* * * * *

_“What are you doing?”_

_She jumped at the sound of Aunt Magica’s voice, and the glass she had been lifting into the air dropped and shattered; the shimmering energy disappeared. “You can’t_ waste _your powers on silly frivolities.”_

_“I was just practicing,” she protested, frowning._

_“You will use your powers when_ I _allow it, and that’s all. Do you understand?”_

_She sighed, her shoulders slumping. “Yes ma’am.”_

* * * * *

“Hey, Webby!” Dewey appeared in the door, bouncing. “Uncle Scrooge got a bite on some artifact he’s been trying to find. Lezzgo.”

“That’s my cue to go,” Lena said, pushing herself up. “Enjoy the books, Webs.”

“Aaaawww, come with us!” Webby begged, grabbing Lena’s arm and wrapping her arms around it. “It’ll be fun!”

“It sounds like the exact opposite.” But she couldn’t say no to those eyes. “Who’s flying?”

“Mom.”

“Okay.”

* * * * *

_Stowing away on airplanes was dangerous, and she prefers to avoid it. Lena. Lena preferred to avoid it. She had finally given herself a name, wanting to be anything other than Shadow. Aunt Magica had been annoyed, but giving in was easier sometimes._

_Planes were dangerous to hide on. At least this time she had gotten into the luggage compartment instead of having to ride in the wheel well._

_“Finally!” Magica burst out as Lena curled in on herself, pulling her sweater over her legs and shivering. “It only took three years.”_

_“S-Sorry Aunt Magica,” Lena murmured, eyes on the floor. She could never do anything right. She tried, but she was just… never good enough_.

* * * * *

“Giant, crumbling, possibly haunted castle.”

Lena looked at the stereotype before her, unimpressed. “It also has the Sword of Darvack,” Scrooge said with a satisfied smile. “I’ve been trying to track that down for years. Everyone ready?”

“You know, I think I left something on the plane…”

Webby grabbed Lena’s arm, giggling. “Come ooooooooon, let’s go.”

“Okay, okay.”

Lena sighed, letting Webby hold her wrist and tug her into the castle.

* * * * *

 _“Why are you_ stopping _? We don’t have time for you to stop!”_

 _“I’m tired,” Lena muttered, falling onto the park bench she’d found. It wasn’t the_ best _place to sleep, but it would do for a couple hours._

 _“You’re always_ tired _, always wasting time, I can’t believe—”_

_“Hey.”_

_Another voice cut Magica off; Lena was blinded by a flashlight in her eyes_.

* * * * *

“Uuuuuuugh.”

Louie collapsed on the stairs, groaning. “Dude.” Lena and Webby turned back to him. “We’ve only climbed like thirty steps.”

“Only? What are you _made_ of?”

“Mostly shadows.”

Webby giggled, sitting. “We can take a break. Do you want some water?”

“Please.”

Webby got a water bottle out of her bag, handing it to Louie, who drank greedily. “Lena?” Webby offered a bottle to her as well.

“Nah, I’m good.” Lena sat, leg bouncing slightly. Stopping was always a pain, Aunt Magica would—

Oh. Right.

* * * * *

_The Robins weren’t that bad. Lena could have gotten comfortable there._

_Could have._

_“They’ll hate you when they find out what you are,” Magica whispered in her ear every day. “They’ll think you’re a monster. You’re not even real. What will they think of you when they know?”_

_It was stressful._

_“Shut up,” she whispered into her pillow, hands over ears. “Shut up,_ shut up _!”_

_The lamp next to her shattered._

_Looking back, Lena would eventually realize that this had been Magica’s plan. Drive her over the edge until her magic started lashing out. Lena shouldn’t have let it get to her. In time, she’d learn how to handle it better._

_“No nonononono,” Lena whispered, scrambling up. She heard footsteps in the hall, coming for her room._

_“Lena?” It was her foster mother, at the door, opening it._

_“Don’t come in!”_

_Lena didn’t really remember much of the next few moments. She saw Mrs. Robins face, she remembered panicking, the amulet glowing bright under shirt…_

_Then she was running down the street, sweater half on, shoes clutched to her chest. She never found out what became of the kind couple who had opened their house to her_.

* * * * *

“Why do ghost things always attack us?!”

“Because you go into _haunted castles_!” Lena yelled, ducking as another vase was thrown her way. Webby was steadily moving closer — could she even hit a ghost? They’d find out — to where they _thought_ the ghost was. It was hard to tell, but it seemed to be the center point of all the furniture flying around them. Louie ducked around an oncoming plant, looking around.

“Lena, watch out!”

There was a decorative table flying right at her. Lena threw her hands out without thinking; a shield formed around her, stopping the table short and breaking it apart.

“Go Lena!” Webby yelled as Louie cheered. Lena looked toward the center of the chaos, the shield shrinking into a small ball of energy, which she reared back and threw. It hit the ghost dead on, giving Webby a clear target to kick.

“Nice!” Louie said as the ghost tumbled through a wall and out of sight. “Let’s get out of here before it decides to come back.”

* * * * *

_“Waste of magic,” Magica grumbled. They were hiding in the shadows of an alley, Lena making herself as small as possible._

_“Are you talking about me, or the magic I used to get away from the cops.”_

_“Both. You need to stop putting yourself in trouble—”_

_“I need food!”_

_“What for? You’re a_ shadow _!”_

_“Well, I’m a shadow who gets hungry! Not my fault you messed up your stupid spell.”_

_“Just get moving again!”_

_Lena closed her eyes for a moment, biting down another comment, and hurried out of the alley. For all her trouble, all she had gotten was a candy bar._

* * * * *

“Jeez Pink, is that bag bottomless or something? Oh god — don’t tell me you and Violet found a spell for making never-ending bags.”

“Nah, I just pack it really well.” Webby handed a granola bar to Louie. “Do you want one?”

“I’m good.”

Webby frowned. “You haven’t had anything to eat or drink the entire time we’ve been here, _and_ you’ve been using magic.”

“And? I’m fine.” Actually she was starting to develop a bit of a headache, but Webby didn’t need to know about that.

“At least drink some water,” Webby insisted, shoving the bottle at her.

“ _Pink_ …”

“For me?”

Oh, she played dirty with those sad puppy eyes. “All right, all right.” Lena cracked the cap, taking a long sip. Long enough to almost finish it. Maybe she’d been thirsty after all.

* * * * *

_“It’s out of the way,” Lena mused as she wandered the stage, looking around. “And we have a good view of the obnoxious money bin.”_

_“Hmph.” Magica sneered. “I’ll make that mine, just you wait.”_

_“Of course, Aunt Magica.” Lena rolled her eyes — and nearly tripped as her foot sank slightly into the floor. For a moment, she thought the stage had broke. But no, it had been a trigger, opening a trap door. That was interesting. Lena stared at it for a moment before walking down. It must have been something leftover from the theater’s active days. There was a small desk and ottoman, some props, and even a_ bed _. Lena kicked it, then flopped down onto it._

_“Disgusting,” Magica grumbled. “You have no idea how old that thing is.”_

_“Better than every park bench I’ve ever slept on.” Lena shrugged._

_“Well don’t lie around for too long. You still have work to do.”_

_“I know, I know…”_

* * * * *

“I think we’ve looked everywhere we can,” Webby said thoughtfully. “Might as well go back to the meeting place.”

“God I hope one of the others found it,” Louie said as they turned back to go the way they had come from.

“Does the old man get testy when he doesn’t find the thing he wants?” Lena asked, raising an eyebrow.

“A little. But I’m more worried about having to go to another castle. I try to cut down on how much time I spend in places that are old, falling apart, and haunted.”

“I think you’re with the wrong family.”

* * * * *

_Lena had very little experience with computers. But it hadn’t taken much looking cute and innocent to get one of the kinder librarians to set her up and show her how to look up old newspapers articles. Magica had thought it would be a good idea to find out what Scrooge had been up to since the last time they had fought._

_The answer, apparently, was not much. Lena found a few articles that mentioned him in passing, but the last big one was from ten years ago, when he had “retired” from adventuring. He had basically been a shut-in ever since. Great. How was she supposed to get inside, then?_

* * * * *

“No luck for you guys either?” Huey asked. He and Scrooge were already in the foyer.

“Oh, plenty of luck. Just all _bad_.”

“We fought a ghost,” Webby said, bouncing. “It was fun!”

“Well, seems like this was a waste.” Scrooge sighed. “Though I wouldn’t coming back some time to take a closer look…” His voice drifted off when he heard the distant sound of screaming. “What in the…”

Everyone looked down the nearest hallway. Della and Dewey were _sprinting_ for the door, trying to dodge a sword swinging itself at them. “It’s alive, it’s alive!” Dewey yelled. Everyone jumped out of the way as the mother and son came barreling through; Lena instinctively pulled Webby back to stop her from trying to fight before shielding off the door. The sword swung itself uselessly against her barrier.

“Very nice, lass.” Scrooge smiled, adjusting his glasses.

“Don’t suppose you’d want to join us more often?” Della smiled.

“No way. This family’s too crazy for me.”

* * * * *

_There was a crowd gathering on the docks. Lena paused, looking down, and was about to continue on her way before she realized that the crowd had gathered around Scrooge McDuck._

_Oh._

_“Curse you, McDuck!” Another Scottish duck was yelling as a Kraken scooped him up, waving him around. Lena ignored that, creeping closer, trying to stay out of sight but watch what was going on. The old man wasn’t alone — there was a younger man with him, and old, very large lady, and four kids. The younger adult was speaking — Lena couldn’t make out much of it, although she heard “boys”, “trouble”, and “teach them.”_

_“Uncle Donald?” The boy in red asked. He and his copies, wearing blue and green, all looked excited. The man — Donald — said something else that was completely unintelligible._

_“At the mansion?!” The triplets yelled in one voice. Their uncle was in the middle of saying something else when a nearby houseboat exploded._

_“Ooooh!” The boy in blue grimaced. “I may have left the engine running in the houseboat.”_

_Lena’s eyes flicked between the boys and the girl, who was standing with the older lady, looking positively exhilarated. They were pretty young. And it was obvious the boys and the girl hadn’t know each other for long, considering the way they were all standing._

_A small smirk pulled at Lena’s beak as she stepped back. The reporter’s words reached her even as she walked away._

_“There you have it. Reclusive adventure capitalist Scrooge McDuck is back, with family in tow, solving mysteries and rewriting history!”_

_And Lena had a plan._

* * * * *

“I still think it was a great day,” Webby said as they boarded the plane.

“Yeah, except for the part where Mom and Dewey almost got shish kabobed.”

“Par for the course,” Della said breezily, heading for the pilot’s seat.

“Insane. All of you,” Lena said, sitting down and buckling in. Webby hopped into the seat next to her, hugging her tight.

“But it was fun!”

“Your idea of fun is a little terrifying.”

“Ye still held your own, though.” Scrooge almost sounded proud. “I’m sure ye won’t take me up on it, but yer welcome on an adventure any time.”

“You’re probably right,” Lena admitted. “But… thanks.”

Scrooge gave her a smile as he sat. Webby hugged her tighter.

* * * * *

_“What are you doing?”_

_“Playing a game.”_

_“More like wasting time.” Magica huffed in annoyance. “We only have six more months until the eclipse, you know. You’re supposed to be finding a way into McDuck’s house, not playing silly little games.”_

_“I’m multi-tasking.” Lena slipped her latest SOS into a bottle and stood, throwing it as hard as she could into the water, toward the kids further down on the beach. “Adventure family finds pleas for help, immediately come running because they’re good people, and find little old me sitting here waiting to dazzle them.”_

_“And you_ really _think that’s going to work?” Magica sounded doubtful._

 _“It’s better than any plan_ you’ve _come up with.” Lena finished another note and tossed it._

_“Watch your mouth,” Magica snapped. “I’m your aunt, and you will respect me.”_

_Lena’s eyes dropped back to her paper. She sighed as she finished writing “help”. “Yes Aunt Magica.”_

_The boys were sailing away, but the girl was still on the beach. Even better. Lena finished her note and threw it._

_“Just make sure you stick to the plan. And don’t trust any of them. You know what people are like.”_

_“Yeah,” Lena muttered. “I do.”_

_“I’ll save you noble sailor!” a voice echoed down the beach. She had taken the bait._

_“Huh. I guess you_ do _have good ideas sometimes. Good luck, dear niece.”_

_Magica melted back into the shadows. Lena stared at her paper for a long moment before collecting herself and preparing to meet her new “friend.”_

* * * * *

Most of the kids had fallen asleep. Lena was drifting in and out, aware of the warm body pressed next to hers. Webby had moved the arms between their seats so she could fully snuggle up with Lena, half using her as a pillow as she slept. At some point, their fingers had ended up intertwined. Lena smiled lazily at the sight, letting her eyes flutter shut as she relaxed completely. She was here. And safe. With her best friend at her side.

And right then, that was all she needed.


End file.
